Dion Waiters, a Life Center Academy Sr. and a 2010 Syracuse recruit, recently took time to do a Q&A session with The Capital Sports Report at the 2010 PrimeTime Shootout in Trenton. His interview is about his sports career.

・ your biggest role model outside of sports

DW: “My mom. I have a couple of mentors, which include my dad, my uncles . . . my whole family basically. My mom’s always been there for me, both through the good and bad times. She stuck with me.”

・ your favorite motto

DW: “Play every game like its your last.”

・ superstitions before games

DW: “Yeah, I’m very superstitious. I don’t know how, but I’m very superstitious. I have to do the same things before each game.”

・ how sports has impacted your life

DW: “It has helped me stay out of trouble. In the Philly area, it was hard growing up. Playing basketball, you don’t have to worry about anything happening to you if you’re playing sports. I go from home to school to the gym, then back home.”

・ what keeps you motivated in sports

DW: “Well, I definitely want to be the best. Everybody’s going after that No. 1 spot. I got a lot of motivation right now.”

・ a failure that you experienced that has made you a better athlete today

DW: “Yeah, recently when I wasn’t selected to the McDonald’s All-American game [March 31st in Columbus, Ohio]. I feel like I belong with those guys. I feel like I deserved to be selected. I’m very upset about not being selected to that game.”

・ going to Life Center Academy for academics, not athletics

DW: “The academics side of Life Center Academy is great! They make sure you get your work done, besides from your basketball.”

・ why he selected basketball to play

DW: “I played football, too. But my mom thought I was better in basketball instead of football. I thought I was good at both.”

・ when he started to play basketball

DW: “I started playing basketball when I was around 13-years-old. That’s when I started to take the game seriously.”

・ your favorite NBA player

DW: “Michael Jordan is always going to be atop the list. But right now, I would have to go with Allen Iverson and LeBron James.”

・ special meaning of his jersey number [11]

DW: “It’s a tradition. Growing up, my friend died a few years go, and he wore No. 11, too. I dedicate it to him.”

・ why he chose Syracuse University

DW: “It’s a great school to attend. I felt like Syracuse is the best fit for me.”

・ playing for Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim

DW: “It’s going to be great! He’s a great coach. He knows what he’s talking about. He’s had a lot of great players during his tenure at the school. Hopefully, he’ll work with me and make me great, too.”

・ how coach Boeheim will make Waiters a better player

DW: “He’s going to motivate me to work harder. I’m going to just listen at first, and then do what he says. I want to make it to the NBA and he knows how to get me there.”

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